Analyst systems are well known in the art. Within such systems, individual analysts tend to work on those topics that are of particular interest to, or that are assigned to, him or her. As used herein, an analyst is any person that processes a large amount of content (i.e., materials of virtually any nature) in order to become more knowledgeable about that topic and, of particular importance, to be able to develop appropriately meaningful insight and responses of such knowledge. Even where topics are specifically assigned to individual analysts, each analysts still has the ability to select the particular content that he/she will review. For example, particularly where content is available in electronic form, i.e., via the World Wide Web or other electronically accessible network, this is often done through the use of programmable search “filters” configured by the each analyst. Unfortunately, this approach tends to lead to dissatisfactory results.
Typical results for such a self-directed approach are illustrated in FIG. 1, which depicts a topic-space 102 representative of the “universe” of available topics in which a plurality of analysts (illustrated in FIG. 1 as plurality of circles whose size correspond to the relative scope of topic coverage provided by each analyst) self-direct the coverage applied to the various topics available within the topic-space 102. As is often the case, certain topics tend to become over covered while other topics go completely unserved. For example, as shown, a first analyst 104 may operate on one or more topics that are not covered by any other analyst. Alternatively, a second 106 and third analyst 108 may provide overlapping coverage on topics as shown. Taking this to a further extreme, clusters of analyst 110 may develop around a relatively small number of topics to the exclusion of other potentially important topics. Further still, reflecting the relative efficiency of individual analysts, the work of an analyst 112 focusing in on a relatively narrow field of topics may be subsumed entirely by the work of another analyst 114 covering a broader range of topics.
The result of this approach is that, while each analyst may do a good job individually, overall intelligence analysts are not used optimally. That is, if one considers the overall analytical capability of a plurality of analysts as a finite resource, such an approach does not ensure that this finite resource will be used in an optimal manner in which the broadest possible range of the most important topics are covered by an appropriate number of selectively focused analysts. This desired situation is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, in which groups of analysts 202, 204 are purposefully aligned to provide relatively broad coverage around particularly important concepts. Within such groups, overlap of coverage may be purposefully designed, as well as the breadth of coverage provided by any individual analyst.
Currently, most efforts aimed at improving the effectiveness of analyst are directed to the sharing of information between disparate information sources. For example, within the various intelligence agencies overseen by the U.S. federal and state governments, significant resources are being applied to foster sharing of information between the databases compiled by each agency. Additionally, rather than moving towards more structured control of the operation of analysts, current approaches tend to emphasize the use of user-directed collaboration tools, such as so-called “wikis” and web logs (often referred to as “blogs”) in an effort to leverage the widest possible array of analysts. While such efforts may improve the efficiency and efficacy of analyst networks, significant concerns exist regarding the security and privacy implications of the information being shared. Furthermore, such approaches do not address the need to optimize the use of available analyst resources to ensure that priority topics are being addressed. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide techniques that overcome these limitations found in prior art techniques.